Monday, 20 April 2015

Special feature - What have we learnt from the first four flyaway races and what can we expect from the opening race of the European season?

(Mercedes AMG PETRONAS F1 Team)

The Formula One circus arrives in Spain in three weeks for
the first race of the European leg of the season following four extremely
exciting fly-away Grand Prix.

Mercedes AMG PETRONAS F1 Team’s reigning world champion
Lewis Hamilton kicked of the season in Australia winning the Grand Prix by
1.36s from team mate Nico Rosberg while Scuderia Ferrari’s new signing, reigning
world champion Sebastian Vettel finished the race in third place 34.523s behind
Hamilton.

In Malaysia, Vettel started alongside Hamilton on the front
row and went on to win the race and finished 8.569s ahead of Hamilton and Nico
Rosberg while Kimi Raikkonen showed that the new Ferrari SF15-T is an extremely
competitive car as the Iceman finished the race in fourth place. Scuderia Toro
Rosso rookie driver’s Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz finished the race in the
points in 7th and 8th place respectively.

The biggest surprise to come out of the first four Grand
Prix has been the struggles of Infiniti Red Bull Racing.

The Milton Keynes
based outfit have encountered trouble with their new RB11 and Daniel Ricciardo
is now onto his fourth Renault power unit after suffering three failures in the
first four Grand Prix which means that it is more than likely that the
Australian will have to take a ten place penalty for using a fifth power unit
when the allocation for the season in four.

At the Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International
Circuit, Lewis Hamilton took his third pole position in a row and went on to
win the race ahead of team mate Nico Rosberg while Sebastian Vettel was once
again on the podium in third place as a result the German four time world
champion moved up to second place in the championship following his victory in
Sepang.

The Lotus F1 Team who over the winter made the switch from
Renault to Mercedes scored their first points of the season at the Chinese
Grand Prix as Romain Grosjean secured a seventh place. In Bahrain over the
weekend Grosjean once again finished the race in the points with another
seventh place finish.

The Enstone outfit have now scored more points so far this
season than they over the course of the entire 2014 Formula One season.

Williams Martini Racing who finished in third place ahead of
Scuderia Ferrari have seen the Italian team leap frog them over the winter as
the Prancing Horse would appear to be the second fastest team following
Mercedes.

McLaren have also struggled in the first four Grand Prix of
the season having moved from Mercedes to Honda power over the winter. Jenson
Button failed to even start the Bahrain Grand Prix over the weekend having
completed just 17 laps over the course of the race. Meanwhile Fernando Alonso
who sat out the season opening Australian Grand Prix following his accident in
testing finished the race just outside the points in eleventh place.

Alonso said following the first night race of the season
that it would be the last time that the Woking based outfit will finish a Grand
Prix outside the points.

The team who have made one of the biggest steps compared to
last season is the Sauber F1 Team as in 2014 the Hinwil based outfit failed to
score a single point however in the opening four Grand Prix of the season, they
have scored 19 points and are currently in fifth place in the Constructors
championship.

Towards the end of last year the Marussia F1 Team entered
administration and last month the outfit was purchased by Northern Irish
businessman Stephen Fitzpatrick and the rebranded Manor-Marussia F1 Team are
now back on the Formula One grid and have two complete race distances behind
them as both Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi completed the Chinese and Bahrain
Grand Prix.

So who will be the team to beat when the F1 circus rolls
into Barcelona? It is hard to look past Mercedes and Ferrari being right at the
front once again while the Williams Martini Racing Team may also be very strong
in Spain. The weather at the Spanish Grand Prix is expected to be very warm but
not as hot as it was in Bahrain last weekend so this should suit Mercedes and
Ferrari.

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen finished the Bahrain Grand Prix
just 3.380s behind race winner and reigning world champion Mercedes AMG
PETRONAS F1 Team’s Lewis Hamilton so the Iceman can be expected to be
challenging for the race win in Spain.